The National Standardized Child Passenger Safety Certification Program

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The NationalStandardized Child Passenger Safety
Certification Program
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Why was a nationally standardized certification
program developed?

• Over 15 separate curriculums were being used
  across the country
• Some contained opinion as fact or were
  scientifically dubious
• Significant public interest in the field drove
  the national certification efforts
• Increased communication between manufacturers
  because of scientific, non-opinion based research
• Blue Ribbon Panel urged better communication
  between advocates and manufacturers
• Linking certification to the curriculum assured
  that everyone providing information to the
  public, media, etc. met a minimum standard and
  could show credentials attesting to successful
  course completion.

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The CPST Partnership

• National Child Passenger Safety Board
• The National Child Passenger Safety Board strives
  to improve the quality and integrity of child
  passenger safety information and materials. It
  provides recommendations and guidance to NHTSA
  and Safe Kids regarding curriculum and test
  development and serves as a panel of experts and
  advocates for the program as a whole.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  (NHTSA)
• NHTSA developed the original National
  Standardized Child Passenger Safety Training
  Curriculum in the mid-1990s and continues to
  update its content with the latest technical
  information. NHTSA is also a founding member of
  the National Child Passenger Safety Board.
• Safe Kids Worldwide (SKW)
• Safe Kids is the current certifying body for the
  National Child Passenger Safety Training Program.
  It is responsible for administering all aspects
  of certification and maintaining a directory of
  nationally certified CPS technicians and
  instructors.

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Why become a nationally certified CPS Technician?

• Portable same credential accepted from state to
  state
• Massive numbers of like-minded advocate share a
  central place to gather information
• Information network (CPS Express!, TECH Update)
• Serves as a platform to keep raising standards
  for product development, regulations, policies
• Information is disseminated using a neutral
  platform everyone gets the same information to
  obtain new information

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Why become a nationally certified CPS Technician?

• Liability
• The federal government does not, at this time,
  recognize self-certification because there is
  decreased confidence that such a program has been
  properly implemented, tested or graded .
• Increased protection because national
  certification has the seal of approval of the
  federal government
• Absence of such a certification and practicing as
  a CPST exposes the participant to additional
  liability.
• Provided a CPST practices within the scope of the
  certification, should a legal incident occur, the
  weight of the entire CPST community, federal
  partners, and national organizations will be
  behind them.
• The risk to kids is too great.

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What does the program teach?

• During the course, individuals learn
• Technical and instructional skills needed to
  serve as child passenger safety resources for
  their organizations, communities or states
• Those who successfully complete the course,
  including participation in a supervised child
  safety seat clinic, may be eligible for national
  certification as Child Passenger Safety
  Technicians (CPSTs).

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Course requirements

• The NSCPSTP course is usually taught over 4 days.
  
• Topics include
• Crash dynamics
• Injury prevention strategies
• Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
• Vehicle belt systems
• Safety seat selection
• Communicating with parents

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Course structure

• The course is taught using a variety of teaching
• methods, including
• Classroom Lectures
• Discussion
• Role-playing
• Hands-on practice with a variety of child
  restraint and vehicle belt systems
• Students should be prepared for physical
  activity during the installation of child safety
  seats. Should accommodations be required, the
  Lead Instructor must be notified before
  registering for the course.

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Quality Assurance

• To maintain the highest quality of training
  possible and help ensure that all CPS Technicians
  are trained according to the standardized
  curriculum, only certified CPS Instructors and
  instructor candidates are allowed to teach the
  national CPS certification course.

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Want to learn more?

• With 9 out of 10 child safety seats misused,
• you can join thousands of other CPS Technicians
  help parents and caregivers properly secure their
  children on the road with hands-on help or
  quality presentations.
• For more information on becoming a
• nationally certified CPS Technician,
• go to www.safekids.org/certification.